Belisaiee dtjbois



(No Model.)

B. DUBOIS.

METHOD OF GON'STRUOTING ORNAMENTAL MASONRY COLUMNS.

No. 367,508. Patented Aug. 2, 1887.

2 E p w E F VII III

FIBE

sue. cw. aRMM/WM 'm gMl/w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE- BELISAIRE DUBOIS,OF BOUSIGNIES, FRANCE.

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING ORNAMENTAL MASONRY COLUMNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,508, dated August2, 1887.

Application filed Decemberl7, 1856. Serial No. 222,579. {No model.)Patented in Belgium July 10, 1886, No.73,801; in France 9E 0- ,3 2; inGermany July 20, 1886, No. 38,143, and in England .Tnlylt), 1886, No.9,408.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BELISAIRE DUBOIS, of Bousignies, in the Republic ofFrance, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods ofConstructing Ornamental Ma sonry Columns, (for which Letters Patent havebeen granted to me in France, July 12, 1886, No. 177,362; in Belgium,July 10, 1886, No. 73,803; in Germany, July 20, 1886, No. 38,143, andGreat Britain, July 20, 1886, No. 9,408,) of which the following is aspecification.

Numerous attempts have been made to form upon columns of marble or otherhard substances ornamental spiral fillets by a process of addition, thenatural inflexibility of these materials forbidding their being twisted.The effect of a column constructed on this principle and in materials ofdifferent colors is so beautiful that it is easy to understand why somany attempts have been made to achieve success in this direction; butup to the present time the only method of producing party-coloredcolumns has been that of cutting spiral grooves therein and filling themwith a material of a different color.

In order that this invention may be thoroughly understood and carriedinto practical effect, I will proceed to describe the same in detail,referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings, which are to betaken as a part of this specification and read therewith, and in whichlike parts are marked throughout the figures in which they occurwith thesame reference letter or number, and in which- I Figure 1 represents aperspective View of one of the prisms used in the construction ofcolumns according to my invention. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 show threehorizontal sections of eight prisms united in the position necessary toproduce a twisted column, consisting of eight bands of equal width, Fig.2 being a crosssection of the upper end held in the upper compoundsocket; Fig. 3, a cross-section taken at the mid-length, and Fig. 4 across-section of the base through the lower socket. Fig.

5 is a vertical section through the axis of the column, showing that atthe mid-length of this axis all the prisms touch each other, there foreforming both above and below the plane of contact a pyramidal space, theapices of both of these pyramidal spaces meeting in the center of thesaid plane of contact. Fig. (i is an elevation of the prisms puttogether. the Roman figures II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII indicating theexterior angles of the corresponding prisms, the two dotted linesshowing the diameter of the column which is to be produced; and Fig. 7is a side elevation of a column finished according to my method.

I cut prismatic bars A, Fig. 1, of which one angle, a, is determined, aswill be hereinafter explained, and these prisms serve as single elementsfor the construction of the column. Two boxes or compound sockets, onefor each end,contain a number of openings corresponding to the number ofbands in the column to be made, and of the same shape respectively asthe end elevation of the assembled prisms. These openings are cut out ina circle around the center of each compound socket, and the centers ofthe two sockets form the ends of the axis of the column. The prisms areplaced in the compound sockets,the angles a toward the center. Theseangles do not coincide with the axis ofthe column, and are not evenparallel with it. Being inclined with respect to the axis, each anglehas only one point of contact with it, situated at the mid-length of thecolumn, in such a manner that the said angle forms with the said axistwo acute angles subtended by radii of the ends. It follows from thisthat when all the prisms are put together the column is only solid atits mid-length,\vhile the two ends are hollow.

The prisms having been placed in the two compound sockets, as I havejust explained, all the surfaces which touch are cemented together bymeans of a suitable cement.

The prisms are marked from I to VIII for the purpose of showing theirrespective posi tions in the several sections. The dottetlipesconnecting the three sections of the prism 1 m Figs. 2, 3, and 1indicate the oblique position of this same piece and of all the others.

The circles in the three sections, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, show thecircumference of the column. All that part of the prisms which isoutside this circle is sawed off. The column is then turned up, theinner part only of each prism {03 remaining to form a spiral band ofthecolumnand having the appearance therefore of inlaid work. The sectioningof the prism I'in the three sections shows the arrangement clearly.

After having cut the prisms down, as above mentioned, and polished theseveral faces,

their appearance is as shown in Fig. 7, which is an elevation of thefinished column.

The column shown in the drawings has eight spiral bands of equal width;but the number and the width of these bands may be Varied.

[O The determining point is always the angle a. In the example chosenthis angle is one of forty-five degrees-i. 6., three hundred and sixtydegrees divided by the number of sides. If a column is to be made withtwelve equal I5 bands, the angle a will contain thirty degrees.

It I wish to produce a column containing, for example, twelve bands ofblack marble separated by twelve of white marble of double the width, Idivide the circumference of the column into thirty-six equal parts. Theinternal angle of the black prisms will be ten degrees and that of thewhite prisms twenty degrees, and soon.

All the angles set out around a common center form the mid-lengthsection of the colum 11, and the form of the two compound sockets isthen obtained by the aid ofstraight'lines, such as the dotted lineswhich are drawn between Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The amount oftwist 0 variesaccording to theheightdetermined upon.

"While speaking throughout this specification ofprisms as the onlyelements of the columns, I should explain that I have chosen thisregular form because of the ease with which it 5 can be adapted topractical work. I wish it determined according to the directions givenabove.

Having thus described myinventiomI claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent 4 5 l. The method herein described of making ornamentalcolumns, consisting in preparing a number of prismatic or other piecesof ma terial having two plane faces meeting at an angle depending uponthe relation of the crosssection of each particular piece tothecrosssection of the completed column, assembling the pieces between twoboxes in which they can be held more or less obliquely, then uniting theseveral pieces and reducing them by any convenient or well-known processto the shape ofa column, substantially as set forth.

2. A column composed of anumber ofpris matic or other pieces of materialhaving two plane faces meeting at an angle depending on the relation ofthe cross-section of one'particu-' lar piece to the crosssection of thefinished column, said pieces being held obliquely and cemented together,substantially as shown and described. 6 5

3. A column composed of a number of prismatic or other pieces ofmaterial having two plane faces meeting at'an angle depending on therelation of the crosssectiou of one particular piece to thecross-section of the finished column, said pieces being held obliquely,ce mented together, and reduced at their outer portions to the requiredsize of the column, substantially as shown and. described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereuntoaifiXed my sigto be distinctly understood that columns can be built upaccording to my-invention from elements of other form. All that isnecessary is to have pieces of a sufficient length shaped 40 in such amanner as to have two flat longitudinal faces meeting each other at anangle, a,

nature in presence of two witnesses.

' DUBOIS, BELISAIRE.

\Vitnesses:

I. HoFMAN BANG, LoUIs GUDMAN.

